Maybe not Khan but a version of him that fits into this universe? Could be, as Carol Marcus is a definite nod in a certain direction. I'd still say that the hand in the Japanese trailer belongs to Spock.. he was almost doing the Vulcan Neck Bench (or whatever it's called).

There are LOADS of nods to 'Space Seed' / 'Wrath Of Khan'. This 'John Harrison' was almost killed by Khan in 'Space Seed' and appeared in 27 episodes of the original series. The two hands on the glass...yes, could be Cumberbatch / Quinto, not Pine / Quinto and I agree...the blonde...got to be Carole Marcus...What the hell is JJ Abrams doing???

" Love will be challenged. Friendships will be torn apart. And sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew."

This plot synopsis is quite ambiguous. It could mean Kirk makes sacrifices for crew/friendship/love, Or that that Kirks' crew make sacrifices and take the losses. Perhaps the hands at the end of the Japanese trailer are Cummerbund/Spock, and that theirs is a friendship that is lost because of the plot and not Kirk as we are expecting.

To me there is a very good way to have Khan in the new continuity: have the initial encounter end differently, or not have khan's plan revealed to Kirk, then the thing he was marooned to prevent can happen. Problem solved, a different characterisation of Khan, because his motivation in TWOK would be absent and he would personalise his Wrath on Kirk.

There you go, A film that would essentially be 'The Wrath of Kirk', the story of the captain losing it in response to What Khan does, and the crew begin to fear what he is asking them to do, with the vengeance roles reversed as Kirk effectively declares war on Khan, 'Jim, logically he deserves it, but if we do this, then how are we better than him?'etc

And though it was Gary Mitchell who went all 'God' in the original series, what's to stop the thing that happened to him happening to someone else in the new timeline, and therefore still using old tales, but spun anew, and that's where Bertrand Hammerbatch comes into it?

Why would the director decide to do something as cliched as that? If people are assuming that the Japanese teaser at the end of the trailer is showing the two hands, maybe Benedict doesn't get captured because he wanted to. I'm analysing the information I have here, and I can tell you that this may have much less similarity to other films than people think it does. It will probably have much more depth and normally go places that other films don't. The director is obviously tackling this in a psychological manner.

For one thing, Loki didn't want vengeance. He didn't do it personally. In fact, he just wanted power because he believed the human race craved subjugation. He wanted to rule over everyone. Benedict's character John Harrison (perhaps) explains his anger and frustration, this is much more personal and he wants vengeance. But he doesn't do it in a way like a typical villain would do. He has no clear boundaries, we may be able to sympathise with him. In fact, despite knowing how to fight, I perceive he might be as vulnerable as the rest of the characters. He isn't purely evil, like Loki, or psychotic, like Silva in Skyfall. For once, I think when we do watch this film, we will not be able to distinguish between good and evil. And, for example, he mentions 'family', which brings in morals. Kirk, from the last film, is developing confidence and dislikes it when he is suddenly made vulnerable by this new character, but what he doesn't realise is that he may be going about this the wrong way. He's in conflict, he doesn't know what he's doing. Is Benedict's character therefore a plot device? No. Kirk's character may just be refusing to believe and becoming ignorant to the reason Harrison may be destroying things, assuming that this guy is wrecking havoc and locking him up for no apparent reason. If people think that this may be your typical sci-fi action film, there are some things that I see that may make you think otherwise. Benedict's character has been described as a terrorist, given the fact he is destroying everything, but the crew don't seem to see what reasons he's doing it for. A good reason that may be able to explain why he has been locked up is because Kirk and the rest of the crew are trying to see who he really is and what he's doing, or afraid of what he's going to do next. Or maybe they are just ignorant of what he's actually doing and punishing him for creating havoc.